RALEIGH (June 10, 2011) – A coalition of more than 130 North Carolina groups is targeting five North Carolina legislators with mailers and meetings in their home districts.

Their aim: to encourage the five lawmakers to support a veto of the state’s proposed budget – a budget that would starve vital public investments, cost jobs and take North Carolina backward.

Together NC has already called on Gov. Beverly Perdue to veto the legislature’s proposed budget. Now, the coalition is targeting the five critical swing legislators who will determine whether a veto can be sustained.

The legislators being targeted are Rep. Tim Spear, Rep. William Brisson, Rep. Jim Crawford, Rep. Bill Owens, and Rep. Dewey Hill. The Together NC coalition has sent 8000 postcards total to these legislators urging them to support a veto.

The mailers urge voters to contact their legislators about cuts to schools, hospitals, community colleges and other critical services. “The legislature could simply maintain the penny sales tax and prevent all of these cuts and more,” the mailer says.

“This budget takes North Carolina backward, starves our schools, and guts the vital investments that make our state prosperous,” said Louisa Warren, a coordinator of the Together NC coalition. “Our leaders can do better, and we need to demand that they craft a budget that preserves North Carolina’s future.”

The mailers are being paired with a week of activities, including town hall meetings starting with one in Bladen County last night. In addition, demonstration lemonade stands in Elizabethtown, Edenton, Elizabeth City and Raleigh are sending the message that North Carolina needs revenue to support teachers and schools.

Together NC is a collection of more than 130 non-profit organizations, service providers, and professional associations who have come together to promote wise choices for shared prosperity for all North Carolinians. For more information, visit www.togethernc.org